In Another Time
by Black Oracle
Summary: Post-TFA. Whilst attempting to stop Blackarachnia's latest transwarp experiment in Africa, Optimus is sent back in time to his Academy days on Cybertron where he meets Elita-1 again. Final part 3 is up! Elita comes face to face with her future self!
1. Chapter 1

This is a TFA fic that sprouted from the question of: 'what if Optimus Prime had a chance to meet Elita One again (before she became Blackarachnia)?' Then that question lead to the idea of him travelling back in time in order to do so. And that was what inspired this fic.

The idea of Optimus travelling back in time and meeting Elita One again raised an intriguing possibility of whether Optimus would take the chance to try and stop the tragic events of Archa-Seven from ever happening, and it presented an opportunity to find out more about the possible nature of the 'friendship' he had with Elita before she became Blackarachnia. Wouldn't it have been interesting if there had been a TFA episode based on an idea like this? I think it would have been. It was unfortunate that the TFA series ended without really resolving the issue of Blackarachnia, Optimus and Sentinel. Alas...

I also remembered the old 90s 'Gargoyles' episode 'Vows' as I was writing this fic too. Perhaps it had been my subconscious influence initally as well. It was that ep where Goliath went back into the past thru' the Pheonix Gate and met a Demona from her younger days when she still loved him. So for anyone that watched the 'Gargiyles' show years ago and remembers the particular episode of 'Vows', you may recognise some influences from it in this fic!

I am planning to post this fic in 3 parts. I was debating whether to include it in my '**TFA: Glimpses**' collection of post-season 3 short fics, but I decided against it, since this fic turned out pretty long. It's almost like the story of a whole episode I'd say. You can consider this fic also to be set after the final season of the TFA show, sometime after Optimus Prime (theoretically) returns to Earth after returning to Cybertron for a while as a hero. I'm just imagining that Optimus would have wanted to return to Earth sooner or later to search for the remaining Decepticons there. And I'm guessing that he may find Blackarachnia in Africa, assuming that's where she was tranported to with Wasp after the season 3 episode 'Predacons Rising'. So yes, I'm making up some details and assuming a few little events have occurred in order for this story to take place.

And now that you have a little background information for this fic, we may begin!

This one's for all Optimus/Elita suporters.

**In Another Time - Part 1**

Somewhere in Africa, deep in a cave that stretched for hundreds of metres up, a dark purple and black techno-organic female Cybertronian worked intently in a simple lab of her creation. Her sharp purple fingers moved swiftly across the keys of a control panel. Her four red optics watched lines of figures dart across a readings screen in front of her, then they drifted sideways to look at a giant construct standing on the cave floor. It was a huge construct consisting of a wide, solid base that branched into two spires reaching up toward the echoing heights of the large cave's ceiling.

"This has to work," Blackarachnia mumbled, "With transwarp technology, I'll be able to save myself from..." She glanced down hatefully at her techno-organic body. Her hand clenched into a tight shuddering fist. Her red optics narrowed. "The solution lies in the past...and that's where I'll go..."

Just as she turned her attention back to the control panel in front of her, she was interrupted by the alarming sound of metal bending and breaking behind her. She spun round.

A glowing blue blade was cutting through the metal doors in the wall of the cave. Two criss-crossing lines were drawn through the metal of the doors. They broke into four large pieces and collapsed forward with a loud crash onto the cave floor. From the now exposed doorway, the red and blue form of Optimus Prime emerged into view as he stepped into the lab, putting away his battle axe. He immediately spotted Blackarachnia. His blue optics fixed emotionlessly upon her.

"I had a feeling you might be behind the high transwarp energy readings we detected around this area," he stated.

Blackarachnia watched him coldly.

"Even on a different continent of this planet, you still manage to find me. A long time ago, I would have admired that quality about you." She bent forward and fired two lines of webbing at him. "But now, it's just tiresome."

Optimus reacted instantly. He jumped to one side, avoiding the oncoming lines of webbing. He then caught sight of the giant transwarp technology construct. He looked back at Blackarachnia quickly.

"Is that...a transwarp generator?" he questioned critically.

"Could be," Blackarahnia teased dryly.

"What are you trying to accomplish with that?" Optimus pressed.

Blackarachnia suddenly threw herself at Optimus with a spinning back kick. He managed to block it with a raised arm.

"That's none of your concern, Optimus!" Blackarachnia hissed.

She swiped at him with her sharp fingers, but Optimus caught her attacking hand and gripped it tightly. He looked sternly into her red optics.

"But **you** are my concern, Blackarachnia!" he declared firmly, "If you're thinking to conduct some kind of experiment with that transwarp technology, it could end up being dangerous to more than just yourself!"

Blackarachnia brought her knee swiftly up into Optimus' abdomen. Taken by surprise, he bent over in pain. His grip on Blackarachnia's wrist loosened and she pulled her hand free.

"Can't you see that I am running out of options...," she brought a round-house kick across Optimus' face, knocking him to the ground, "...and patience! I won't let you interfere with my plans here."

Optimus swung his leg out and swept Blackarachnia's feet out from underneath her. She hit the ground as well. In an instant, Optimus was on top of her, his knees on the ground on either side of her hips. Crossing his arms, he gripped her wrists and pulled them above her head, drawing her arms to cross over one another and pushing them down on top of her venomous spider legs. With his two hands, he managed to firmly hold down her four dangerous upper body limbs against the floor above her head. She struggled underneath him, but her own crossed arms held down above her were preventing her striking spider legs from coming forward. Optimus had effectively pinned her down. His blue optics focused down into hers seriously.

"The energy readings I picked up from here were way over controllable levels!" he informed warningly, "Your transwarp technology's too risky! You could end up damaging yourself! Or worse..."

Blackarachnia glared up at him angrily.

"I'm already **damaged** thanks to you, Optimus!" she bitterly shot, "Any risk now is better than living as a techno-organic mutant freak!"

She swung her leg up and kicked Optimus off of her. He flipped forward over her head and crashed heavily onto his back, one leg bent, the other flat. Then Blackarachnia scrambled to her feet and ran for the control panels. Optimus rolled himself onto an elbow and forced himself to his feet as well. He reached a hand out to Blackarachnia as he cried out to her.

"Blackarachnia! Don't!"

He drew his battle axe out and threw it at the control panels. It spun whistling through the air. Just as Blackarachnia reached for the controls, the glowing blue blade of the axe embedded itself in the centre of the panels. Electricity crackled out of the damaged hardware.

"No! The controls!" Blackarachnia cried, "What have you done?"

Suddenly, the giant transwarp generator hummed into activation. Optimus and Blackarachnia stared up at it in alarm. A ball of white light expanded from the centre of the generator's two spires.

"It's opening up a transwarp portal!" Blackarachnia cried out.

The ball of white light grew into a wide circular portal. It began sucking up everything before it with incredible force. Before Optimus could react to escape, he was pulled, sliding across the cave floor, toward the portal. Blackarachnia shot out two lines of sticky webbing at the rock floor and entwined her hands in them. They attached her securely to the floor. Optimus though, was not as fortunate. The pulling forces of the portal lifted him up toward it. He was sucked into the portal. Then as soon as it had claimed a victim, it imploded in on itself, sending out a wave of unseen concussive energy as it closed up. Blackarachnia was knocked into stasis lock as the aftershock wave hit her.

* * *

Optimus emerged from the transwarp portal only a few feet from ground, but the impact when he collided into it was still jarringly hard. His left arm took the force of the crash as he landed on it. He moaned in pain. Above him, lightning crackled down from a swirling storm cloud in the sky to the white portal he had fallen out of. The lightning was closing the portal; it rapidly shrunk until it had vanished out of existence.

Slowly and painfully, Optimus stood up, holding his aching left arm that had taken the impact of his fall. He immediately wondered where he had been transported to. He scanned his surroundings for answers. He was in a Cybertronian courtyard surrounded by various tall buildings on all sides. It all looked rather familiar. Then Optimus recognised his location: Autobot Academy training camp!

Before he could explore his surroundings more, Optimus heard approaching voices to his side. He glanced around himself quickly and spotted a rectangular pillar behind him. He took cover behind it, concealing himself in its shadow. Turning his head to look over his shoulder, he peered out over the edge of the pillar. He watched a group of three talking bots stop at the spot where he had just been standing.

"That was some weird storm," one red and gold bot with a blue helmet was saying, looking upwards into the clear dark sky.

"Yeah, looked like a localised lightning cloud, but then it just disappears after a few nano-kliks," another tall, red and white bot with long, pointed black antennae on either side of his red helmet said.

Optimus magnified his vision on the three bots.

_Pyro, Star Saber and Springer?_ he mentally recognised in surprise. He hadn't seen them since his Academy days...

Optimus realised they must have seen the unusual sight of the transwarp portal he had just fallen out of manifesting from a distance away.

"Well, it's gone now," Springer stated to the other two, his fists on his hips, "Nothing else to see here. Let's go."

The trio moved away, continuing to chat amongst themselves about the strange, brief 'storm' they had seen. Optimus watched them until they had disappeared completely from his view.

"Optimus!"

Optimus jumped. His cover had been blown! He spun round in the direction of the voice that had called his name and found its source: Sentinel Prime! In all his bulging blue metal pomposity, thick armoured arms swinging at his sides and his bloated chin held up characteristically in the air. But his old 'friend' wasn't looking at him and he was a fair distance away. He passed by Optimus' hiding place and was heading instead toward another very familiar red and blue bot. Optimus gaped as he recognised the very familiar red and blue bot that Sentinel was approaching: it was his younger self, still in his old Cybertronian body! Sentinel had been calling to a younger Optimus.

It hit the older observing Optimus instantly. He finally realised not only where he was, but more importantly, when.

"I'm...back on Cybertron...in the past!" he whispered in shock to himself.

The transwarp portal had brought him back not just to Cybertron, but back in time over a thousand stellar cycles! Back to his days in the Academy!

He continued to observe bewildered as Sentinel draped his arm over his younger self's shoulders, grinning widely.

"So buddy, how was your battle simulation run today? Manage to scratch Starscream's paint this time? Or did you get your skid-plate handed to you again?"

"Very funny, Sentinel."

"Aww, c'mon, Optimus. Lighten up. You know I'm just teasin'."

The young Optimus glared un-amused at Sentinel. Then something caught Sentinel's optics ahead. He elbowed Optimus lightly in the arm to get his attention.

"Hey, check it out!" he alerted in a hushed but excited voice, "It's Elita!"

Both mechs looked forward as Elita One walked into view a short distance away from them. She was flanked on either side by two other fembots, one vivid blue in colour with a grey face and the other aquamarine with a pale pink face.

In his concealed place, the older Optimus was paralysed at the sight of Elita. There she was: gold, turquoise and black as he remembered her from his Academy days. She was talking and laughing with her two female friends as they walked along, unaware that she was being watched by three sets of entranced male optics. From the corner of his vision, the older Optimus saw Sentinel sweeping dust off his already immaculate and polished chest plate.

"Excuse me, Optimus," Sentinel seemed to puff out his chest plate. The young Optimus rolled his optics, "there's a smart and pretty fembot there waiting for the perfect knight in shining armour to come sweep her off her servos."

Optimus' younger self looked like he wanted to say something, but he remained silent as Sentinel left him behind. Past and future Optimuses watched glumly as Sentinel confidently strode up to the three fembots. Noticing his approach toward them, they stopped their chatter and looked up at him. He came to a stop before them and postured himself to show off the impressive bulk of his upper body armour plating.

"Ladies," Sentinel smoothly greeted, dropping his voice to a deeper, masculine tone, "If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to Elita."

Elita nodded at her two friends.

"Chromia, Moonracer, I'll catch you two later."

They left, waving to Elita. When they had gone, Elita turned her attention back to Sentinel.

"Hi, Sentinel," she greeted politely.

Sentinel laid an arm leisurely around her shoulders. She looked uncomfortably at his large hand as it clasped around her right shoulder.

"You busy later?" Sentinel offered her a coaxing smile. "Coz I'd like to take you out for a party and a few oil drinks tonight."

Elita looked behind Sentinel and spotted the young Optimus silently turning and walking away from them a short distance away. There was a look of glum resignation on his face and his optics had dropped unhappily to the ground. Elita looked back at Sentinel uncertainly.

"Will Optimus be going too?" she asked. She sounded hopeful.

Sentinel casually glanced back at his departing friend's form as it disappeared into the shadow of a building.

"I think he's got something to do," Sentinel answered disinterestedly, "You know Optimus, doesn't know how to enjoy himself."

Elita's gaze fell, mild disappointment on her face.

"Maybe not tonight, Sentinel," she sighed, "I think I'm feeling a little tired."

She turned to leave.

"I'll see you later, Sentinel."

She walked away from a sulky-looking Sentinel. He placed his hands on his hips in a displeased manner before turning to depart in the opposite direction.

They were all leaving the area. The older Optimus began to emerge cautiously from behind his wall.

"Optimus?"

He froze. It was Elita's voice. He slowly turned to see her looking directly at him in a puzzled fashion. So much for not being spotted! She began walking up to him.

"I thought I saw you leave a moment ago..." She stopped as she looked down in increased puzzlement at the unfamiliar dark windows of his chest and the rest of his Earth vehicle-styled body. "When did you get a new design? Have you scanned a different alternate mode?"

The older Optimus didn't know what to say. He stared at her open-mouthed, trying to think of a believable lie to tell her. Then he saw her wide optics shift to her side. Optimus followed her gaze and saw what had caught her sight: his younger self through a window of an Academy building in the distance. Elita slowly returned her optics back to the second Optimus in front of her, disbelief, confusion and alarm rising in her features.

"What in the name of the Allspark...?" she began fretfully.

Optimus quickly raised his hands in a pleading attempt.

"Elita, please, don't be alarmed. Listen, I know this may be hard to believe, but I'm Optimus...from the future. I came...or...**will** come...through a transwarp portal over a thousand stellar cycles from now and ended, erm, **will** end, up here."

His attempt to allay Elita's shock seemed to have little effect. Her optics were still wide with fear and disbelief.

"You're from the future? Is this some kind of joke?" she spluttered.

Optimus shook his head, his expression serious.

"It's no joke, Elita. I'm from a distant future. And unless another transwarp portal opens up, it seems I'm stuck here in the past."

* * *

Blackarachnia pushed herself up from the ground, groaning. She held a hand to her helmeted head to steady it. That transwarp energy wave had hit her quite hard, she realised, but at least she was still intact and functional. Then she remembered Optimus. He had been sucked up into the portal and swallowed by it.

She looked up. Her lab was still more or less in one piece, save for some small pieces of equipment scattered across the floor. Her four red optics moved on to her side and she saw that Optimus' battle axe was still sticking out of the control panels for the transwarp generator. But sure enough, there was no sign of Optimus.

She got to her feet and made her way over to the damaged control panels. She gave them a quick visual inspection. The damage looked deep, but she would have to try and repair it to get the transwarp generator operational again. She needed to discover where, or more precisely, when, Optimus had been sent to. She had programmed the transwarp generator before his arrival to take her back approximately a thousand and fifty stellar cycles into the past, back to her days in the Autobot Academy on Cybertron. But with the damage the controls had received, she couldn't be sure if the portal that Optimus had been pulled into would still have transported him to her previous programmed temporal coordinates, or whether he might have been taken to another point in the past... Wherever in the past Optimus was, Blackarachnia realised that she couldn't afford to leave him stuck there. Who knew what effect his presence in history would have on the time stream?

Blackarachnia fumed to herself. Optimus had tried to stop her from using her 'risky' transwarp technology and had instead got himself transported through a portal. Now she had to find a way to bring him back before he unwittingly altered events in the past and potentially affected the future as they knew it in an adverse way. She would have to actually rescue the bot that she had hated for over a thousand stellar cycles for leaving her behind...

She looked back up at the transwarp generator that Optimus had been sucked through earlier. It occurred to her that if he was somewhere in their Academy past on Cybertron, Optimus might try to do the same thing as she had been planning to do: prevent her younger self from ever going to Archa-Seven in the first place.

_No_, she thought angrily. She did not trust or want Optimus to tamper with her fate. She would not let him shape what she could become, not the bot that had let her down before. He didn't deserve the chance to change her. He could not be trusted...never again...

Blackarachnia brought her attention back down to the damaged control panels and set to work. With some effort, she wrenched Optimus' battle axe loose from the metal panels. Then she pulled off the cracked panels to reach internal circuitry and wiring. Looking down into the interior systems of the controls, she saw the considerable extent of damage inflicted by Optimus' well-aimed weapon: several torn wires emitting sparks and crushed circuitry boards that were smoking. Could this heavily damaged system even have transported Optimus intact anywhere? Did the portal he went through have a particular target destination to send him to? What if it didn't? What if the portal's forces had been made unstable by the damaged controls that opened it?

A disconcerting thought took Blackarachnia by surprise: what if Optimus had perished in the unstable forces of the transwarp portal? For the briefest of moments, contradictory feelings of panic and grief rose in Blackarachnia. Optimus...gone? Because of...her? Then she immediately pushed the unbelievable idea of Optimus being offlined out of her processor, suppressing her conflicting emotions. She shook her head. Surely Optimus had only been transported to another time and place, not...destroyed... Yes, she was certain that he was still online. He had to be...


	2. Chapter 2

My ROTF fic ******_Tales of The Last Prime_** is over and now I move back into the realm of TFA.

After an encounter with Blackarachnia that resulted in a transwarp accident, Optimus has been stranded in his Academy past on Cybertron and has met a young Elita-1 again. Is this a second chance to right the mistake he made by leaving her behind? Or is it just a cruel reminder of the special friend he lost...?

**In Another Time - Part 2**

Over a thousand stellar cycles into the past, on Cybertron, Optimus Prime was stood in Elita One's quarters at the Autobot Academy, looking around himself in silent wonder. There were plaques of achievement hung proudly on Elita's wall, pictures of her and her friends on the table, including one of her, Sentinel and himself... It was as if he was reliving an old memory, back in a place that no longer existed in his future time, back again with Elita One... A small part of Optimus questioned whether he was in some virtual reality again, like the time Soundwave had trapped him and his team in simulated human bodies...

"You're definitely radiating residual transwarp energy."

Optimus brought his attention back to Elita who was standing in front of him. She was running a scanning device over his body, a look of fascination on her lovely, familiar turquoise face as she stared intently at the readings on her device. She finally lifted the device away from Optimus and, after one final check of its readings, let it fall to her side.

"Maybe your story about coming through a transwarp portal isn't so far-fetched after all," she conceded.

There was an awkward pause of thinking between them.

"So you really are from a future time?" Elita questioned again.

Optimus nodded.

"Over a thousand stellar cycles from now."

"Incredible. I've read of theories for the possibilities of creating 'temporal gateways' with transwarp technology. But as far as current science goes, it's never been done before. I guess your presence here proves those theories."

"Yeah, you made a breakthrough in transwarp technology..."

Elita raised an optic ridge. "What?"

He had let slip too much information, he realised. He had to be more careful about what he told Elita of the future. Optimus dropped his head quickly and shook it.

"Nothing." He quickly moved onto another question. "I don't suppose you'd have any ideas about how to open up another transwarp 'temporal gateway' to get me back to my time, would you?"

Elita shook her head apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Optimus. I may be studying science here at the Academy, but I'm far from a groundbreaking expert. This kind of scientific advancement is beyond me."

_You'll get better at it_, Optimus thought grimly.

Elita noticed the heavy expression on Optimus' face. She approached him and hesitantly placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry too much. We'll find a way to settle you in here somehow. This is all the past to you as you say. You've been here before, done everything already. You can't be too surprised by anything happening here."

Optimus gazed at Elita's hand on his shoulder, conflicting thoughts and feelings running through his processor. Blackarachnia...Elita...hatred...trust...

Elita tilted her head to one side, her bright and sympathetic blue optics studying Optimus' turned face.

"It...could be interesting getting to know an older and more experienced Optimus," she said thoughtfully. Her gaze fell to his windowed chest plates. She placed the tips of her fingers against them. "You know, this is a good look for you."

Optimus turned back to her face and smiled slightly at her. It was like a dream, seeing Elita curious, innocent and trusting once again. Then Optimus' expression became serious once more.

"I have to stay hidden for now," he stated firmly, "I don't want to draw unwanted attention to myself or cause any further alarm."

Elita raised a hand to her chin as she thought.

"Let's get you outside and see if we can find somewhere for you to lay low for a while," she suggested.

Unintentionally, her optics travelled down Optimus' broad body frame again, then to her recharge table behind him. She turned away from him toward the door of her quarters. A mischievous smirk appeared on her face as a very private thought entered her processor. She glanced seductively over her shoulder back at Optimus.

"Comfy as my quarters are, I don't think you want to be recharging in the same berth as me tonight."

Optimus' optics widened. He felt an uncomfortable heat rising in his face.

* * *

Elita peered out into a corridor from beside a wall. She glanced left then right to either side of her, checking the length of the corridor for any other presences. Satisfied that no-one else was along the corridor, she turned behind her.

"The coast is clear. Let's go, Optimus," she hurriedly informed.

Elita was about to dash out of their narrow turning when Optimus, fast as lightning, grabbed her wrist and pulled her back beside the wall. She ended up with her back pressed against the wall and Optimus leaning right over her, his arms pressed on either side of her against the wall.

"Optimus, what...?" she began, but Optimus raised a finger urgently to his lips to silence her. Then she heard the reason for Optimus' actions: approaching footsteps and voices from the end of the corridor.

Both of them kept utterly still as the forms of Sentinel and a smaller red bot walked past them along the corridor.

"You know, Cliffjumper, I don't get fembots sometimes. She asked whether Optimus would be coming along then said she was feeling tired," Sentinel was grumbling.

The smaller red bot, Cliffjumper, shrugged. "Maybe she wasn't keen on partying with you tonight. Maybe she's more into Optimus."

Sentinel froze in his tracks and glared down at Cliffjumper.

"Elita more into Optimus than me?" he almost bellowed in disbelief down at his small red friend, "Don't be ridiculous, Cliffjumper! Why would she be into a boring and stiff mech like him? Aren't I much more fun and exciting to be around?"

"Hey, just sayin'," Cliffjumper mumbled in defence, "you never know."

Sentinel scoffed and continued on his way along the corridor. Cliffjumper followed after him.

"Elita liking Optimus better than me? Most ridiculous thing I ever heard," Sentinel was mumbling as his voice travelled further away from Optimus and Elita's position.

When the sound of Sentinel and Cliffjumper's footsteps and voices had gone, Elita gazed up into Optimus' face which was inches from her own. She shifted slightly under him against the wall.

"You know, this is kinda exciting," she commented in a hushed voice, an animated look in her optics, "You, me, sneaking around and hiding together. Sentinel was wrong about you, Optimus. You **can** smoulder."

Optimus made a nervous clearing noise with his vocaliser and promptly stood back from Elita, releasing her from her pressed position against the wall.

"Let's...not linger in this position any longer," he advised, struggling to control his unsteady voice.

* * *

It was quiet. Elita and Optimus had made it outside into a warehouse storage area. Square buildings used to store fuel and supplies surrounded them. Elita was performing quick visual scans of each storage building as she passed them one by one.

"Maybe you could stay in one of these warehouses," Elita suggested to Optimus beside her.

Optimus looked around himself briefly. There were a lot of warehouses. He lifted his gaze to the flat roof of one warehouse building.

"Let's get a higher view of the area," he advised.

He lifted an arm and launched a grappling cable from it onto the ledge of the flat roof. With his other arm going around Elita's waist, he brought Elita toward him and held her securely to his body. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his grappling cable pulled them up onto the flat rooftop. With a final jerky tensioning of the cable, Optimus and Elita were launched over the rooftop ledge. Optimus landed neatly on his feet with Elita carried horizontally in his arms, her hands still wrapped around his neck and her black legs dangling over his left arm.

She gazed up into Optimus' face. Cybertron's large and luminous moon haloed his head from behind, casting mysterious shadows over his face and enhancing the piercing light of his focused blue optics. Elita lost herself momentarily in the sight of him.

As Optimus lowered Elita to her feet, she studied his quiet expression and believed there was a strange sadness lurking in his optics.

"Why do you look at me like that, Optimus?"

Optimus blinked, uncomprehending.

"Look at you like what?"

"Like...the sight of me is upsetting you. Every time you look at me, I can see it, this...deep sadness in your optics."

Optimus did not answer immediately. Instead he looked away into the distance, at the stars in the dark sky.

"A lot of things have changed by my time, Elita, including you."

"Changed?" Elita questioned, her voice taking on an anxious tone. She took a step closer to Optimus, looking at him searchingly for answers. "How? What's going to happen?"

For a moment, Optimus struggled internally with himself. He wanted to tell her. Maybe he could save her from her terrible fate, stop it from ever happening... But...

"Elita," Optimus turned back to look at her, "It's...probably not a good idea for you to know too much about the future. Events as I know them could be altered for the worse. My presence in this time may already be changing the future I come from."

Elita considered his words. Her gaze dropped.

"Maybe you're right," she conceded.

Optimus regarded Elita solemnly. He took hold of both her shoulders and looked earnestly into her face.

"Elita, a lot of things may happen in time to come, things that may change you and others in a significant way, but...they're not what's important. What's important is what you choose to do with each passing moment of your life. Don't look to the future fearing what it may bring you. Live in the present. Enjoy the life you live now, cherish the friendships you share, and most of all, remember always who you truly are, no matter how much you change in time to come..."

Elita, listening intently, nodded compliantly.

"I'll remember what you said, always."

She moved her gaze to stare into the distance, sighing.

"I guess it probably is best if I don't know too much about the future."

She returned her gaze back to Optimus.

"I like to believe I have some free will in shaping my destiny after all."

Her fingers rose to the space beside Optimus' face, an inch away from it. Her lips lifted in a gentle smile.

"Besides, if you're still alive and well in the future, that's encouragement enough for me."

Optimus' face fell at her words.

* * *

A short while later, Elita and Optimus were back down on the ground, walking together through the clear pathways between the storage buildings, their combined footsteps the only sounds around. The silver light of Cybertron's moon bathed their surroundings atmospherically. Elita gazed around herself then turned to Optimus.

"Strange how a little quietness and moonlight can make a bland storage area a rather...," Elita seemed to consider her next word before continuing, "'romantic' location for a couple to stroll through."

She turned her head back to face ahead as they walked, but watched and waited for Optimus' response from the corner of her optic. Optimus turned his head to look down at Elita. An uneasy expression took over his face. Then he brought his gaze forward again as well.

"Elita, do you...like Sentinel?" he suddenly queried.

Elita turned her head slightly to eye Optimus curiously at an angle.

"You mean as a friend?" she specified.

Optimus shook his head and glanced down at her again.

"No. I mean...," he seemed to hesitate, "in terms of...affections..."

Elita raised an optic ridge in interest at Optimus.

"And what interest would you have in my romantic relations?" she questioned coyly.

Optimus lowered his head nervously. His gaze dropped to his walking feet.

"I...I have a confession, Elita." Optimus paused. "I have...," he corrected himself, "**had** a crush on you...in this time..."

Elita abruptly stopped in her tracks and stared at Optimus.

"Really?"

Optimus stopped as well and gradually turned to face to her. He nodded slowly, looking sincerely into her optics.

"I...never got round to ever telling you how I felt...about you." Optimus smiled. "I was never the type to open up my spark so easily."

Elita's lips rose in a genuine smile as well.

"Tell me about it," Elita chuckled lightly, "I have a hard time trying to figure you out sometimes." Her optics searched Optimus's. "I know I shouldn't ask, but...do you...still feel the same way about me in the future?"

Optimus was silent for a moment. He turned his face away from Elita's gaze.

"It's...complicated... I don't know...," he murmured uncertainly.

Elita looked at him puzzled, unsure how to interpret or react to his response. Then she spoke again in a low voice.

"I have confession as well, Optimus." Optimus turned back to face her curiously. "I have a crush on you too."

Optimus' optics rose in mild surprise. The couple froze awkwardly for a moment, optics locked, uncertain what to say or do next. Elita broke the tense silence between them.

"It's weird how I'm telling **you** this," she remarked. Her head shook subtly from side to side, "but I can't seem to work up the courage to tell your younger self. Guess it's a mutual condition in both of us."

A small smile rose on Elita's lips and she raised her hand to Optimus' cheek, touching it gently. Optimus shut off his optics and sighed. His own hand came to rest over Elita's on his cheek. Then he felt the warmth of Elita's body pressing against his suddenly. He onlined his optics again to see that she had moved forward to lean comfortably against his front. She was resting her head next to his neck upon his boxed shoulder. She had shut off her optics. A look of peaceful bliss graced her features.

_It'll hurt even more now_, Optimus thought unhappily to himself. His face fell in anguish.

**To be concluded...**


	3. Chapter 3

And here's the final part! Optimus, stuck in his Academy past, has had a second chance to meet his old friend Elita-1. Old feelings have arisen again between the two, but could an old love change the future that Optimus knows? Or are there some things that just weren't ever meant to be changed?

If any of you are seeing parallels between this chapter and an episode of the 90s show "Gargoyles" called "Vows", then good observation!

**In Another Time - Part 3**

Blackarachnia shot a small splodge of webbing from one of her back-mounted spider legs onto two torn electrical cables that she was holding together. The webbing managed to connect the cables into one curved line. She released them then fitted a covering metal panel back over the exposed internal systems. She stood up from her completed repair work on the control panels for the transwarp generator.

"That should be enough to get it working again," she informed herself.

She pushed a button. The charging sound of reactivating internal circuitry emanated from the control panels. Blackarachnia looked up at the readings screen above the controls as it came back online. Lines of numbers and symbols shot across the screen. Her fingers began to tap rapidly at several keys.

"Now to recall the last settings for his temporal and physical coordinates," she told herself.

Blackarachnia watched in focused concentration as several more lines of information appeared on the screen. Then the words: '**TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL** **COORDINATES RECALLED**' flashed on it. Blackarachnia's red optics narrowed intently.

"Found you, Optimus," she murmured.

She gripped a lever to her side and pulled it down. Her four optics travelled up to the transwarp generator towering in front of her. A small ball of white light manifested in the centre of the generator's spires and began to expand into a larger circle. Blackarachnia walked towards it.

"Time to bring you back," she uttered.

She shot a line of webbing up to the cave ceiling and swung herself into the light of the transwarp portal.

* * *

Optimus remained perfectly still as he quietly watched Elita resting peacefully against him, her head lying next to his neck, her optics shut off. He had brought one of his hands to rest comfortably on her lower back, whilst his other was laid over her wrist on his right shoulder.

"Guess there's something about the past that still surprises me after all," he murmured down at her.

Seemingly lost in contentment, Elita did not seem to hear Optimus.

Flashes of lightning crackling in the dark sky to his side caught Optimus' attention. He turned his head to observe the phenomenon. Immediately, he recognised that it did not appear natural. It looked like a single circular whirlwind forming in the sky with lightning bolts crackling from it. Optimus quickly realised what it could be.

"Elita, look at the sky," he alerted.

Somewhat reluctantly, Elita lifted her head off Optimus' shoulder and followed the direction of his pointing finger with her optics.

"I think...it's another transwarp portal opening up," Optimus quickly informed, "We need to get to it."

Elita glanced briefly at Optimus, seemingly uncertain. Then she returned her gaze ahead.

"It...looks like it's appearing above the courtyard area where I first found you," she said somewhat hesitantly.

"Then let's transform and roll out."

Optimus transformed into his Earth fire truck mode followed by Elita transforming into a sleek gold Cybertronian vehicle. They drove off side by side toward the lightning phenomenon ahead.

When they reached the Autobot Academy courtyard where Optimus had first landed, Optimus and Elita transformed back to bot modes. They were immediately confronted with the incredible sight of a white portal hanging in mid-air a few feet from the ground. It was directly below the whirlwind and lightning phenomenon in the sky.

"It **is** a transwarp portal!" Optimus declared, "She must have opened up another one..."

Suddenly, to Optimus and Elita's surprise, a dark figure emerged from the portal and dropped to the ground before them in a crouch. Optimus' optics widened in instant recognition as the dark figure stood up.

"Blackarachnia...," Optimus breathed.

Blackarachnia glared coldly at him then at her younger self, Elita-1, standing beside him staring back at her warily.

"Optimus, you sentimental fool," she uttered.

Before Optimus could react or reply, Blackarachnia shot two thick lines of webbing at him from her back-mounted arachnid legs. Elita watched in shock as Optimus was thrown back onto the ground by the force of the webbing hitting him. It bound his upper body and he struggled to break free. Blackarachnia began to approach him. Elita immediately ran to his defence and took a firm stance in front of him, facing Blackarachnia.

"Stay away from him!" Elita shouted, "I don't who you are, but I won't let you hurt him!"

She raised her fisted hands in a fighting stance and glared defiantly at Blackarachnia. Blackarachnia stopped and narrowed her red optics at her younger self.

"Believe me, I know **exactly** how you feel about him, Elita-1," Blackarachnia said bitterly.

Elita watched Blackarachnia suspiciously.

"How do you know my name? Who are you?" she demanded.

"I guess it's kind of hard to recognise yourself when you've changed this much," Blackarachnia darkly uttered.

Elita's large blue optics widened for a moment and she gaped. But her gaze quickly hardened again.

"You're lying!" she shot, "You wear the Decepticon badge! You don't look a thing like me!"

Blackarachnia gazed unsympathetically at Elita.

"If you don't believe me, you can ask Optimus," she sneered, dropping her accusative gaze down to Optimus lying tied behind Elita.

Confused and uncertain, Elita slowly turned her head to look behind her down at Optimus. He met her questioning gaze with a regretful one.

"Elita...," he whispered, "she's...telling the truth..."

Shock and horror rose in Elita's expression. She snapped her head forward again to see Blackarachnia walking right up to her.

"Yes, I am you! Your future self!" Blackarachnia declared forcefully. She pointed spitefully at Optimus. "Because of him, I am what you will become! A techno-organic freak! He will abandon you to die, but **I** am what will happen to you instead!"

Elita threw a disbelieving look down at Optimus as Blackarachnia continued to overwhelm her with her venomous accusations of him.

"You think he's so noble? You think he really cares about you? Don't delude yourself! If he ever has to, he'll leave his friends behind to save himself! Ultimately, he'll look out for his own skid-plate!"

Elita watched Blackarachnia in frozen fear and denial as her obvious hatred grew in intensity and force.

"Optimus Prime will betray you! He will be your downfall! Him and Sentinel both! You're better off never having known either of them! Stay away from them! Don't let them get close to you! Don't let yourself care for them! Don't let yourself care for anyone! No-bot is trustworthy! You can only trust yourself!"

Elita began to shake her head in unwilling rejection at Blackarachnia. Blackarachnia's lips twisted in anger and she seized Elita by her shoulders.

"Don't you understand that I am trying to save you from my fate? From being hurt by him?"

Blackarachnia threw an unforgiving glance at Optimus. He turned his face away painfully from her. Elita watched him with concerned and conflicted optics.

"Can't you see that I am right?" Blackarachnia pressed forcefully at her younger self, "That I am what you will become if you don't listen to me?"

Elita suddenly thrust her hands forward and pushed Blackarachnia away from her.

"I don't want to be like you! I will **never** be like you!" she cried.

Elita roared as she threw herself at Blackarachnia. Blackarachnia grabbed her wrist just before she collided into her and swung her younger self onto the ground. Elita, lying on her back, moaned in pain.

"You've got a lot to learn, Elita!" Blackarachnia hissed down at her, "And you will learn my lesson even if I must beat it into you!"

Suddenly, something grabbed and pulled one of Blackarachnia's legs out from under her. She slammed into the ground. Looking down at her legs, she saw one of Optimus' grappler cables holding onto her ankle. She looked up to see that Optimus had broken free from her webbing.

"Elita, run!" he shouted desperately.

Elita quickly got to her feet again and ran to join him.

"I'm not leaving without you!" she stubbornly declared.

A combination of gratefulness and guilt entered into Optimus' spark at Elita's declaration. If only he could have said the same to her back on Archa Seven...

Elita stopped beside Optimus and activated her downloading power. She lifted a brightly glowing arm up to him.

"Mind if I borrow some of your upgrades?"

Optimus nodded and Elita pressed her palm onto his chest. She pulled her arm back as soon as her download completion beep sounded from her systems. Meanwhile, Blackarachnia reached down to the grappler cable that was pulling at her leg. She swiped at it with the spikes jutting out of her lower arm and successfully cut herself free.

"You'll live to regret that you did not heed my advice!" she snarled at Elita as she stood up, "It'll be too late when you realise the mistake you made in trusting Optimus!"

Simultaneously, Optimus and Elita launched two spinning bola-whips at Blackarachnia. She ducked low and avoided them both. As she brought herself up again, Optimus charged toward her and reached out to grab her. Blackarachnia easily jumped to the side and out of Optimus' immediate reach. But then she felt another grappling hook grip her wrist. It had come from Elita. Using her downloaded grappler cable from Optimus, Elita swung Blackarachnia around herself and threw her hard against a wall. The impact was enough to stun Blackarachnia and knock her offline. She slumped to the ground in stasis lock.

Elita retracted her grappler cable and sadly watched her incapacitated future self in silence. Optimus approached Elita slowly.

"Are you...alright, Elita?" he asked tentatively.

Elita kept her gaze focused on Blackarachnia.

"No. No, I don't think I'm going to be alright at all..." Her optics fell brokenly. "Is this truly what I am to become?" She raised a hand to her face and covered her emotional pain. "What am I to do?"

Optimus pulled Elita into his embrace and held her against himself. Elita pressed herself against him, accepting his comfort and reassurance.

"Remember what I told you, Elita," he whispered softly, "Don't look to the future waiting for tragedy to happen. Live in the moment. Cherish your life and your friendships. If and when a time comes when you are alone and afraid in the darkness, hold on to the things that make you radiant and beautiful: your compassion, your trust, your love... Don't give in to hatred and fear. Never forget who you truly are deep down, no matter how much you may change on the outside."

Leaning her head into his neck, Elita hugged Optimus tighter.

"Don't leave me alone, Optimus," she whispered almost pleadingly.

Optimus' optics darkened. There was a moment of silence as he and Elita simply stood holding one another.

"Forgive me, Elita," Optimus murmured, "for what I may do to you."

He began to pull away, but then Elita took hold of one of his hands, clutching it like a precious object.

"If something bad is to happen to me in future, then let me give me you something now, while I still can...and want to," she said determinedly.

She released Optimus' hand and, opening up a small compartment in her arm, pulled out a small diamond-shaped crystal pendant on a fine chain. She held it before Optimus. It looked very familiar to him...

"Remember this?" Elita prompted, "You gave it me as a construction date gift five deca-cycles ago."

"I remember...," Optimus answered, looking closely at the crystal pendant like he had just found an old possession that had been lost for a very long time, "And you've been keeping it on you?"

Elita nodded with a smile and placed the crystal pendant into Optimus' hand, closing his fingers over it.

"Keep it," she insisted, "Whatever happens, at least you'll always have this to remember me better by. Consider it...a token of my love."

Keeping a hold of the crystal pendant in his closed hand, Optimus brought his arms around Elita one more time and embraced her. She returned his embrace.

"Thank you, Elita," Optimus uttered.

He lowered his lips to Elita's audio sensor.

"I'll be waiting for you in the future, Elita, whenever you're ready to come back to me..."

Optimus' blue lips approached her face. They hovered over her turquoise lips for a fleeting second, then rose up to her gold forehead. There he planted a tender kiss.

Optimus drew back from Elita, their embracing arms sliding apart reluctantly. He turned away from her and walked up to Blackarachnia's unmoving form. He picked up her limp body in his arms. Then he turned toward the transwarp portal hovering in the air above him. He looked back at Elita one final time. Elita waved to him.

"Good bye, Optimus..."

Optimus smiled subtly at her.

"Good bye, Elita..."

With Blackarachnia in his arms, Optimus leapt up, disappearing into the white light of the portal. Elita watched stunned as the portal closed up abruptly, leaving no trace of its presence behind. A melancholy expression began to settle on her face.

"Elita?"

She turned to see Optimus walking up to her, her Optimus.

"Are you alright?" he questioned with a hint of concern, "I thought I heard voices. What are you doing back out here?"

Elita smiled, her expression lifting at the sight of him.

"Looking for you, Optimus."

The young Optimus blinked in surprise.

"Looking for me?" he repeated, puzzled, "Why?"

Elita approached him and watched in mild amusement as he shifted nervously at her close proximity.

"I think we should spend more time together. How 'bout we go out tonight? Somewhere quiet. Just us."

She watched a surprised expression come over Optimus' face.

"But...don't you have plans with Sentinel?"

Elita placed her hands on her hips in mild annoyance.

"No, I didn't agree to anything with him tonight. Despite what he would have everybot believe, we're not a couple you know. Besides, what's a little outing between two friends?" She smiled sweetly up at Optimus. "So what do you say, Optimus?"

Optimus' words came out clumsily.

"Uh...s...sure! I mean, yes! I'd like to."

Elita's smile widened.

"Somehow, I had a feeling you would."

Elita slid her arms around one of Optimus's. They began walking off together.

"So where would you like to go?" Optimus asked.

Elita gazed at him affectionately.

"Surprise me."

* * *

Optimus emerged out the other end of the portal carrying Blackarachnia. Though he descended from a considerable height, he managed to land on his feet this time upon the rock floor of Blackarachnia's cave. As he straightened up, Blackarachnia stirred in his arms. She came back online and held a hand to her head in discomfort, groaning. Then she looked up and realised who she was being carried by. Optimus was looking down at her with a calm and quiet expression. Blackarachnia's gaze hardened and she pushed herself off Optimus' supporting arms.

"Nothing's changed," she uttered darkly. Optimus listened to her quietly. "I have clear memories of meeting you all those stellar cycles ago...and it changed nothing! Sentinel still talked me into going to Archa-Seven, you still left me behind, I still became **this**!"

Blackarachnia swiped her sharp clawed fingers up and glared at them as she said the last word hatefully.

"I never forgot what you told me back then, Optimus," she continued bitterly, "but your words were meaningless when you abandoned me!"

Optimus' gaze fell disappointedly and he shut off his optics. Blackarachnia turned away from him, hugging herself.

"Obviously, history is immutable," she murmured desolately.

Optimus lifted his head again and began walking tentatively toward her.

"Blackarachnia...Elita..."

She turned her head slightly back toward him. He held out his hand and revealed the crystal pendant he was holding to her. Blackarachnia turned fully to look at it. Her red optics narrowed.

"That old trinket...that was a lifetime ago..."

"And it can be a lifetime again." He looked into her red optics. "Elita, it doesn't have to be this way between us."

Blackarachnia looked away.

"That simple, huh? Just a matter of choice." She looked back emotionlessly at Optimus. "I think destiny's already taken that luxury out of our hands."

Optimus tilted his head slightly to one side.

"We decide what we are, what we can be..."

Blackarachnia raised her sharp fingers to Optimus' face and touched his metallic cheek. He lifted his hand as well and placed it lightly over hers.

"Poetic. You always had a way with words, Optimus."

Then, with lightning speed, she struck him. Her venomous spider legs jabbed forward and punctured the armour of his broad shoulders. Optimus cried out briefly before collapsing onto his side. Blackarachnia knelt down over his offline body and gazed at his still face. She brushed his cheek again lightly with the back of her fingers.

"In another time...and another place...maybe," she uttered.

She reached for his open hand holding the pendant. Slowly, she closed his fingers over it. Then she lowered her face toward his, her dark lips passing close over his blue ones, travelling upward to his crested forehead. She shut off her optics momentarily and planted a private kiss upon it. A tear trickled down her cheek and dropped onto his as she pulled herself up again.

Then she rose to her feet and quietly departed.

* * *

Time passed. Optimus made his way out of the large cave that had been Blackarachnia's hidden lab. He emerged out of the cave's wide entrance onto a rocky mountainside, stepping out into intense African sunshine.

He lifted up a loose fist in front of him and lowered his blue gaze down to it. His fingers opened to reveal the diamond-shaped crystal pendant lying in his palm. It sparkled under the sunlight.

A solemn but resolute expression shaped Optimus Prime's face.

"Past, present and future. I'll be waiting for you always, Elita," he whispered.

**End.**


End file.
